The present invention relates generally to improvements in electronic article surveillance (EAS) tags, and particularly to advantageous aspects of a deactivatable EAS tag and methods for manufacturing a deactivatable EAS tag.
Generally speaking, it is desirable for an EAS tag to be readily deactivatable by store personnel. However, deactivatability adds to the cost of the tag. Because EAS tags are typically manufactured and used in extremely high volume, the savings of even a fraction of a penny per unit in the manufacturing process may be significant.
An aspect of the invention provides an electronic article surveillance tag in which a resonant circuit that is tuned to be detectable by a sensor is fabricated onto the upper and lower surfaces of a dielectric substrate. The dielectric substrate includes a membrane positioned between a first circuit component fabricated onto the upper surface of the dielectric substrate and a second circuit component fabricated onto the lower surface of the dielectric substrate. The membrane provides insulation between the first and second circuit components. When a deactivation voltage is applied across the electronic article surveillance tag, the membrane fails, causing the resonant circuit to become detuned.
Additional features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent by reference to the following detailed description and accompanying drawings.